Strength Through Pain
by MaizeTheYellowInkling
Summary: When a young mother finds her son being bullied, she take's it upon herself to handle the problem. Can she do it however? Please Review! (Also this is a one shot.)


Just another day passed by in Inkopolis. Summer had just hit two days ago, and the sun wasted no time sending out a mega heatwave across Inkopolis. Thankfully, there were many ways to keep cool against this heat, though the thought that it was going to only get hotter was looming in a lot of Inkopolis's inhabitants.

At one apartment, the sound of a very loud alarm was going off that rung throughout the small home. In the living room, there existed an older woman with five dark blue tentacles for hair that were a bit puffed up and running down her back. Each set of tentacles was longer than the next, but the middle one was the longest. She wore a black shirt top and black shorts, and several different earrings in just her left pointy ear. The older inkling was lifting a 25-pound weight with one of her arms. The woman sighed in annoyance.

"Again…? Why set the thing if you don't wake up to it?" Zaffre muttered, putting the weight down and stretching before she made her way down the hall. Zaffre was a single 32-year-old squid who did her best to keep in shape. She walked through the hall, passing by various pictures hanging on the walls that depicted her and her family, which showed an orange inkling her age, and a young boy in between them. Each photo looked to have been taken about a decade ago by new types of cameras. The dark blue tentacled woman opened the door and headed inside.

"What a mess…" Zaffre groaned. Inside the room was a bed, and whoever was in it had the blankets pulled up over their head. There were clothes, hats and ink based weapons scattered all over the floor. A nearby dresser also stood with a big mirror behind it. On the dresser was a small glass tank that contained outside things; twigs, rocks and leaves, but upon closer inspection, there were a few leaf bugs inside, at least four in total. They were pets to the child that took care of them.

"Cambridge, it's time to get up," Zaffre called out while turning off the alarm clock beside the bed. She yanked the stripe-patterned blankets off, and revealed a young inkling laying on the bed, looking only fourteen years old, with big, blue messed up tentacle hair with an orange tinge at the end of them. A domino mask was around his groggy blue eyes, and he was wearing a blue turtle shell shirt, where on the back of it was a spike decal.

"Mhh… mom, it's too early to get up," Cambridge complained, rolling over and turning his back to his mother. She looked more irritated than before. She walked out of the room for only a moment and went into the nearby bathroom, where the sound of running water was heard shortly after.

"Now, honey, I know it's a Saturday, but you told me the exact same thing two hours ago," Zaffre said while entering her son's bedroom once more. It was nearly eleven, and she hated to let him waste his entire day sleeping in bed. The mother squid did not mind him spending his day inside if he wanted to, but she knew well it was not healthy to sleep all day. Cambridge kept his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, as his mother picked him up out of his bed. The dark blue squid was quite strong, coming from her love to exercise.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she hummed to her son in her arms, carrying him to the bathroom where the bathtub was filled with icy cold water. She dropped the young inkling into the bathtub. With a loud splash, water went on her and into the floor, and a startled scream came out. Thankfully the squids could survive in fresh water, in salt water however they would melt until they splatter.

"Ah, that feels good," Zaffre stretched, feeling the cold water running on her body. She watched as an angry Cambridge stood up, completely soaked in water. On this hot day he would have enjoyed a cold shower of his own choice, but not forced first thing in the morning.

"Yo-you're insane!" Cambridge exclaimed while his mother drained the bath of the water in it. Zaffre smiled, kissing his forehead. Her son was tiny for his age, though she hoped he would hit a growth spurt soon. He only had just turned fourteen a couple of months ago and had finally developed into a full grown inkling, or at least the transformation into it, and ever since then, he had fallen in love with turf wars.

"I love you too, honey. Now go get changed," Zaffre replied. She had been called a variety of things from her only son. Cambridge just took a towel from a nearby shelf to dry off with. She could hear the sound of the door to his room close shut. The dark blue squid mom did not mind the cold water, deciding to tolerate the wet feeling on her body. She went into the kitchen to begin preparing something. Zaffre did not have much of a schedule. She occasionally met up with her friends for their own fun activities with sports, but she was frankly growing bored of them. All that her circle of friends did was play basketball or baseball, but for some reason they were not as fun as she expected. Zaffre just tried not to dwell on it, thinking she was just in a slump. It had been like this since she quit her old job. She continued to work on what she was making in the kitchen.

After a short time, she saw Cambridge return while changing into another shirt after drying off the best he could. His new shirt was black and had a vine decals on it that appeared to be wrapping around its wearer. He set his wallet on the counter, trying to put a necklace on, which had three sharp triangular teeth around it that were differed in quality. Two looked chipped and brittle, and the other looked old.

"Glad you're awake now, honey," Zaffre deviously smiled, seeing her son stretch after attaching the necklace that he cherished.

"Not like I had much choice. You'd just break the door down if I locked it," Cambridge said. His mother was quite strong for her age, she even actually had a small six pack underneath her clothing. She did her best to stay strong and healthy, but she tended to go a little overboard doing weightlifting. Her room was more a personal gym more than anything.

"You're the one who likes to be dunked in the tub," Zaffre chuckled. That was not the first time she had done the cold water wake up to her child far. That was the tenth time this week, as she may recall. The dark blue mother offered a small brown bag to her son, who took it and peeked inside. He gained a smile fast, seeing the food inside that she had prepared for him.

"A peanut butter and apple raisin sandwich? Thanks mom!" Cambridge hugged his mother, and she rubbed his head.

"Just make sure to not overdo it in turf wars today. It's really hot outside," Zaffre requested, glad he at least enjoyed eating healthy. She was aware she had little control over what he consumed outside the home, but she could hope he at least tried to stay as fit as she was. She watched Cambridge leave their home, wanting to go have fun with some turf wars today.

Zaffre continued her daily routine as normal, cleaning, exercising and handling some clients over the phone. After about three hours, she took notice of something on the kitchen counter.

"Oh no. He forgot his wallet…" she sighed, seeing the familiar item. Her son did get careless at times, but leaving his wallet behind was worse than his usual forgetfulness. The main plaza of Inkopolis did require a good bit of coins to afford anything there, and without his coin card, Cambridge would not be able to buy a single item. Zaffre took the wallet and put it in her pocket.

"Guess I'll go take it to him. If I hurry, I should be able to make the subway," Zaffre thought, beginning to head off out of her apartment, locking the door behind her. She hated to imagine her son out in the hot weather without the ability to even buy himself a drink. The dark blue squid headed down the steps, having a pretty good memory of the subway's schedule. She never wanted to have a car, finding it just another huge money eating machine that would make her lazier, so she opted into just using the subway train or buses.

Zaffre had made it on board the train of the subway just in time. She looked around as she waited to arrive to her destination. The subway train was next to empty, but the few squids on board appeared to be going to the same destination. The older inkling took a seat and just waited, aware it would not be long until she arrived to the plaza. The subway cut travel time by a great fraction. She pulled out her cellphone and sent a text message to her son.

"On my way to plaza you forgot your wallet. – Zaffre"

Zaffre barely had just sent that message before her phone let out a light beep. A reply was received already. She tapped the screen to reveal the message.

"plz no Im about to go back home. – Cambridge"

She was confused. Her son never wanted to just quit his afternoon of turf wars. Cambridge normally spent his time in the battle tower until eight in the evening. Sometimes he stayed out later than that and it messed up his sleep schedule, and as such, she had to keep dumping him into the bath tub.

"Stay there." She replied to the text and then muted her phone. She tried to enjoy the rest of the train ride, worried over what was wrong with her son. She was starting to presume that he lost a rank in competitive turf wars, but that made no sense. She knew Cambridge too well. He would get more determined and spend even more time in turf wars if he lost his rank. It made her concerned trying to imagine it.

"We have arrived to Inkopolis main plaza. Have a good day," a voice from the subway announced as the train came to a stop. Zaffre climbed out and headed for the steps through the crowds in the way on the steps, and it only took a minute of stair climbing before she arrived in the main plaza. Shops were everywhere around the plaza, and the battle tower for turf wars was off to the side, posing as the main attraction. The tower had the great zapfish on it, the power source to all of Inkopolis, though it had vanished for a few days once but luckily returned before any serious occurrences could happen. Ever since, alternative methods for electricity had been created to lessen the workload of the great zapfish's job, thinking that was why it had went missing. A lot of inklings were in the plaza, minding their own business. However she was only here for her son.

"Cambridge?" Zaffre said, looking to the nearby full café. Sitting outside of it against one of the two pillars was her son, cut and bruised on his face, and his favorite weapon, the jet squelcher, broken. There was no sign of the necklace he cherished, either. Her son looked up at her with that upset look that she had not seen in many years, and it broke her heart in two.

"Hi, mom…" Cambridge meekly greeted his mother squid. She knelt down beside him, able to tell that he had been crying.

"Cambridge… honey what happened? Where did your necklace go?" Zaffre asked, worried greatly. She just wished it was an accident during a turf war that had gotten her son hurt, but she knew he would never go anywhere without that necklace. Her son cast a gaze over at one inkling in particular, a fifteen-year-old with two red tentacles tied up behind his head, a small crown-shaped band holding them together. He was wearing a bright pink shirt, and dangling around his neck was the familiar necklace

"…he took it after he beat my squad in a turf war. He ganged up on us with his friends…" Cambridge explained. It was sad that he had no real friends. He usually just went into turf wars alone and hoped to get reliable enough squids to win. Unfortunately, those were few and far between in the reliable department. Zaffre turned to gaze at the red inkling.

"I hate that smug look of his…" Zaffre stood back up and began to approach the red squid, her son getting up and following behind. He knew that look on his mother's face and she rarely ever bit her tongue in situations like this. She would tell the truth in her mind, all because she saw no sense in speaking any other way.

"Mo-mom, what are you doing?" Cambridge worriedly questioned, seeing her walk toward the very inkling, fearful of what she was about to do.

"Teaching a brat a lesson," Zaffre stated as she got close to the very red squid with the crown hair band. The confused inkling faced the older woman.

"Eh? What do you wan-" the red inkling received a hard punch to his cheek that knocked him off his feet and onto the ground. A big bruise was left on his cheek. Cambridge stood there in shock at what his mother had just done.

"What the heck was that for, you crazy kraken!?" the red inkling gawked, wondering why he had just been decked by a hard right hook.

"For ganging up on my son and taking his necklace," Zaffre retorted with a straight face, seeing him stand back up. He was only half her height, but a huge raging flame inside of him was just as tall as her. He then saw Cambridge behind her, and grinned.

"Oh… I get it. The little squishie went running to his mommy? Ha! Gutless! I'm Alizarin! You think just getting some old idiot will get me to just give my new necklace over?" Alizarin rudely spoke. Zaffre did not pay his insult anything at all.

"N…no… Mom is just mom…" Cambridge could only say in argument. He was afraid of his bully. He felt one of his mother's tentacles holding his, trying to give him comfort and reassurance that it would all be fine.

"I could go to the cops with what you just did to me, lady," Alizarin threatened in an attempt to guilt trip Zaffre for assaulting a teenager when she was an adult. She expressed no care at all and instead quirked an eyebrow.

"And what about you? Let me remind you that my son and his three teammates that you ganged up on can very well contest to what you and your group did to them," Zaffre retorted. Her son was hurt badly, and she was not going to let some arrogant squid push her family around. He was glaring, trying to think up what to say.

"Heh… fine. You want it back? Let's make a bet," Alizarin grinned, seeing her still standing here, angry as ever. She wanted to just grab him and suplex him into the nearest store window, but she had to just put him in his place.

"What is it?"

"How about we have a turf war. You beat me, I'll apologize and give it back. But if I win, I get to take all of your earrings," Alizarin explained the rules. Cambridge tugged on his mother's short sleeve. He knew by heart that she cared a lot about those earrings, and each individual one held a different fond memory.

"Mom, you don't have to do this for me," he pleaded. She patted his head, reassuring him she would be fine.

"Alright. You're on. I'll have you know, I'm really crisp," Zaffre agreed. Alizarin grinned, ready to go.

"Mom, no one uses crisp anymore. We use fresh now," Cambridge whispered to her. The red inkling was laughing a little, but he shook it off. The two made their way to the battle tower. Cambridge felt horrible, blaming himself for not being able to protect himself, but a one on one private turf war was just like it sounded. He could not be a spectator for it, so all he could do is sit and wait, and hope his mother could win.

Upon entering the battle tower, they could see the usual group of inklings around, preparing to fight, gathering up teams with their friends or random other squids. Zaffre received some odd looks. Most adult inklings did not participate in turf wars for various reasons, mostly for their huge size which meant them being an easier target, and slower maneuvering. Of course, some older squids enjoyed continuing their turf careers, but there weren't many. Most just accepted that they had other things in life calling to them other than the turf field, after all. Every one of them had left their marks in history as artists.

"We'll fight at Blackbelly Skate Park," Alizarin said. Normally there was a stage rotation where only two stages were allowed in the regular and competitive turf wars, but in private battles, the inklings could choose whatever location they desired. Zaffre nodded, though saw a slosher deco hanging off his back beside his ink tank full of red ink, while she herself was unarmed. However, they walked by three inklings showing off their weapons and she grabbed the first one she could while passing by. Which was a rapid blaster, a bulky shooter. But it would get the job done.

"He-hey! That's mine!"

"I'll bring it right back, sweetie," Zaffre pretended to be innocent, Alizarin silently judging her. They both approached the platform to take them to their private battle zone. There were a few ink tanks lying around it, full of various colors. They could pick their team colors by picking one of them up. The squid mother picked up one full of dark blue ink, and her opponent took an ink tank filled with red ink. They both put them on their backs and got ready, stepping on the circular platform that had a glass chamber dropped down over them.

"Good luck. Have fun," Zaffre said, the teenage squid shaking his head.

"Who needs luck? I'll beat you easily" Alizarin cockily said before a small glass wall got between them. Their halves of the chambers began to rapidly fill with red and blue ink. Once full, the two of them glaring to each other, the ink within began to drain away, the turf war contestants ready to battle.

They both reappeared at a skate park like area in their respective team colors. The two were very far away from each other. Blackbelly Skate Park was a place for a few inhabiting skater squids. Usually turf wars happened with or without anyone being there. The rules for standard turf wars were as simple as a game of soccer. The one who covered the most turf in their ink won, after a judge took a look to determine who covered the most area.

Zaffre took in a breath and exhaled, mentally preparing herself. She was gaining some looks and whispers amongst the others, which she did not care for. They were going to just be an audience to this turf war. She heard a loud noise, indicating the start of the battle. She immediately began spraying everywhere she could with her dark blue ink. Zaffre was not used to any of these locations when she was younger. Everything was different.

"I wish I could have picked Jellyfish Harbor. It was Sheen's favorite," Zaffre thought while she was spraying a half pipe with her rapid blaster, her tentacles beginning to get a bright blue flaming glow to them. Her weapons special ability was charged. However, she had no idea what it was. She did borrow this weapon from the idle squid in a thieving matter. Suddenly, the inkling mother found herself in a flat ramp, the entire area of it covered in red ink.

"Ah, jeez…" Zaffre saw red ink flying from up high from the top of an upper platform. She quickly changed into her squid form, and she dove into her own ink and swam aside, watching the red goo splatter all over the ground. Her age made her bigger than most inklings' squid forms. Once she had dodged the attack, she quickly changed back to her regular form to spray blue ink from her rapid blaster up at the platform, aware that Alizarin was up there, trying to get the surprise on her and splatter her so he could cover more turf.

"You're going to have to do better than that!" Alizarin retorted. She saw him, standing at the top of the platform, his red hair blazing brightly. Even the crown band he had holding his tentacles together glowed along. The special ability for his weapon was fully charged, and he was not afraid to use it. She watched the red inkling jump from the platform, hitting a button on his slosher deco and quickly beginning to change into his squid form, but this time growing in size. He landed in front of her as a gigantic, tough kraken, ready to splatter her.

"Well, it's now or never," Zaffre sighed. The young kraken failed to intimidate her. Alizarin raised one of his big tentacles, about to attack. She hit the button on her rapid blaster, and a bubbler shield appeared around her right when the tentacle collided. It blocked the attack, but she got swatted away like a hamster in a plastic ball. She went spinning down a quarter pipe and spiraling through red ink. Zaffre did her best to fire while stuck in this spin, covering as much of the turf with blue as she could handle it. Alizarin continued his assault, quickly nearing her once more, not caring for the new blue covering his turf.

"You are one annoying old bat!" Alizarin roared, swinging both of his tentacles overhead and bashing the bubbler shield once more, stopping her spin instantly, but the sphere shield was not able to be broken by his attacks at this point. It was a battle to see whose special ability would hold out the longest.

"What does my age matter? You're the one picking on younger squids, you stupid angler!" Zaffre retorted. Angler was a common insult in Inkopolis, a slang for a lot of things, but commonly for a two faced liar. The insult crawled under Alizarin's skin, but he could bite back, the squid mother began firing her rapid blaster at him, hitting him in the eyes with her blue ink. The red kraken let out a roar of agony. It burnt like scalding soapy water upon contact. He began flailing his tentacles around before suddenly, he reverted back to his inkling form, but he still was blind. Zaffre's bubbler shield vanished right afterwards.

"Looks like you're out of ink, angler," Zaffre stated, watching him trying to sling that slosher deco bucket around, but nothing was coming out. That one word kept striking nerves around his body.

"S-shut up!" the blinded red squid said before hearing a shattering noise. His ink tank had been broken by Zaffre, and it would take too long to go all the way back to his starting zone to replace it. Breaking ink tanks was a hard trick to pull off, but usually when it can be done, it crippled the affected from covering turf.

"It's true though. You are an angler," Zaffre sprayed her rapid blaster around the area, covering even more of the red ink up with her own blue ink. All Alizarin could do was stand there, upset. He had no way to fight. Once she covered an adequate amount of the turf, she put her rapid blaster on her back. She reached down and took the necklace off from around the fifteen year old's neck.

"And an angler like you doesn't deserve this," Zaffre took the crown hair band that was keeping his tentacles together, taking it only because of the bet, but she felt good. He had this coming anyway. Zaffre had no regrets, watching his tentacles flop down to the sides of his head.

"Waaaaaah!" suddenly Alizarin broke down into tears before falling on the ground. The older inkling was confused, wondering why he was crying so much over it. This was just another turf war, and not even a real one, yet he was this upset over it. Now Zaffre felt bad for this. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, going down on one knee in front of him and beginning to wipe the ink out of his eyes.

"Quit blubbering you big baby…what're you crying for?" Zaffre questioned, hearing him sniffle as she cleaned one of his tear-socked eyes. He looked to her, as they could hear the sound of a blaring noise. Time was up and the turf war was over. An anthropomorphic black and white furred cat came out. Judd the Judge made his appearance to tell who covered the most turf just at a single glance.

"And the team that covered the most turf… is the blue teameowza!" Judd suddenly got shot by a blast of blue ink that knocked him off his feet.

"Shut up over there, you annoying cat!" Zaffre called out before she put her rapid blaster down and returned her focus to Alizarin, now that both of his eyes were clean of the ink. She sat down beside him, trying to change her thought process. She hated to not act like her normal self, but this was someone else's child. She was going to make sure everything was alright, despite the bullying of Cambridge.

"So… why does the word angler bother you so much?" Zaffre asked while taking back the handkerchief, putting it back in her pocket. The red inkling boy looked emotionally destroyed, like she had crushed all emotions out of his heart in seconds. He looked even more ashamed to be seen like this.

"That's what mom used to always call me… when I was growing up," Alizarin sniffled. Zaffre quirked an eyebrow. That sounded actually very messed up.

"She always tried to fight with dad. He didn't want to fight, so he always just gave in to her commands," he continued, looking ready to burst into another fit of tears. She wrapped two of her tentacles around his back to give him comfort. He lifted his shirt a little, presenting to her a nasty scar that went from his left shoulder, all the way down his stomach.

"Sh-she took her anger out on me… then wh-when I was seven years old, one night… she called me an angler, and just one good swing with a knife di-did this to me. She tried to kill me… then da-dad took the knife and tried to stop her, but she wouldn't stop… He-he…Her eye… through it… the knife…" Alizarin began to cry again, losing his voice to his choked sobs. It sounded like a gruesome thing to witness to know a physical and emotional scar was implanted for the rest of his life, all because his mother lost her mind. Zaffre sighed, taking both of his tentacles before pulling them back behind his head, and then putting the crown band back on them.

"I can't imagine what you're feeling… But I've faced death too, and so did Cambridge, but he has no memory of it because he was only a few months old when it happened," Zaffre held her head. Just thinking back on it sent a lifetime of agony throughout her body, but she needed to comfort this poor young inkling, and thinking maybe telling her family's history would shed some light on the bully, so he knew he was not alone.

"When I was fifteen, I had a job at jellyfish harbor. It was an old storage facility. I was one of the workers hired to help people carry in their items they wanted to stash away in their units…" Zaffre began reaching a fonder part of the memory, which still hurt her a tiny bit.

"One squid I had to assist was named Sheen. He was a pro at turf wars, and a boxer. I was still trying to lose weight and get my body in shape, so he offered to help me," she smiled, looking down at the three triangular teeth on the necklace. Alizarin looked up to her in confusion.

"He was such an idiot, but he had a bright sunny personality and was great at what he did. After seven months of turf battling and boxing, I had lost thirty pounds and gained muscles quick, with an S+ rank to my name before I stopped. Two years had passed and he had asked to marry me," Zaffre began to look teary eyed as she did her best to stay strong, still continuing to tell her memories.

"A year later, I had an egg and Cambridge came into our lives. Sheen loved him, and having our son made him the happiest squid in the world, I didn't even think it was possible," she stated. She never anticipated to have had a marriage like that, but as her expression showed, there was a dark side to the story, and Alizarin had no clue what he was about to hear.

"One day, he took me to surprise his parents with a visit, but their home was empty. They were out shopping to get some things for my birthday party. I got concerned and put Cambridge in the car seat on the couch to let him sleep," Zaffre began to pant, feeling close to having an anxiety attack.

"We didn't know there was a gas leak coming from one of the pipes in the basement, but when Sheen and I went down there, he used that stupid lighter he always carried. That one he got from his grandpa. We weren't hurt from the blast, but part of the ceiling had caved in and had trapped both of us. It had me by my legs and him by his arm," Zaffre was sweating, feeling the blazing flames surrounding her almost like she was right there, reliving the moment.

"When we heard Cambridge crying, Sheen decided to be the hero. There was a pair of pliers and some fishing wire nearby… he took the pliers and ripped out all three of his teeth and tied them to a part of the broken pipe, and then he cut his arm off," Zaffre looked back at the necklace. The three teeth on it were her very husband's. All inklings had two types of teeth. There was a set of regular teeth and then three razor sharp teeth in the front of the mouth. Alizarin could only look in awe.

"I had blacked out from inhaling too much smoke. I woke up outside with Cambridge beside me, and Sheen was with us… by the time the neighbors had called for help, it was too late…" Zaffre finished the tale of her husband's tragic death just, another set of bad luck that had taken the life of an innocent squid that had chosen to give up his life and limb for his family.

"So… those teeth on the necklace… they're his…?" Alizarin questioned.

"Yes…" Zaffre nodded. It sounded a bit morbid, but it was all she really had left to remember him by, and she entrusted it to Cambridge so he would always remember his father, even if he had only really seen him in photographs.

"His death didn't change me, though. I've always been trying to use my strength to keep us going, but Cambridge is like his dad in so many ways that I sometimes forget myself…" Zaffre stated while getting up, helping Alizarin up as well.

"Well, let's go… sorry for calling you… you know…" Zaffre said, offering him to come with her.

"I-it's all good…" Alizarin hesitantly replied, as the two headed back to the starting point so they could go back to the main plaza. The two held hands through the walk, both covered in random blotches of red and blue ink on their clothing.

Cambridge waited fearfully back in the main plaza, pacing back and forth, afraid what would happen to his mom. He then saw the familiar duo exit the battle tower, and immediately ran up to them, passing by an irritated Judd who was trying to clean the ink out of his fur.

"We-well? Who won?!" Cambridge asked. Alizarin initially wanted to talk, when he saw the necklace in his hands. Zaffre had returned the rapid blaster to its rightful owner, too.

"No one. We tied," the young inkling's mother lied. Stalemates were the rarest thing to ever happen yet. Cambridge knew if one person could do something ridiculous or impossible, it was his mom. He looked at his bully, who got the idea what Zaffre wanted him to do.

"So, uh… he-here, I'm sorry about what I did to you," Alizarin apologized, holding the necklace out. Cambridge was surprised by the red squid's change of heart. He took the necklace and put it back around his neck, happily.

"It's okay… I'm sure I did something to make you mad," Cambridge forgave him with surprising ease. Alizarin could not believe what he heard. The young blue inkling had done nothing to him. Alizarin had done it out of well nasty intent. His victim gave a big smile. It warmed Zaffre's heart to know the two were on better terms now.

"Would you… uh… like to join me and my friends… in a turf war, sometime?" Alizarin requested. Cambridge tilted his head in confusion, wondering why he was being so nice suddenly, but brushed it aside.

"Sure! That sounds great," the young blue inkling agreed, though Zaffre then grabbed their attention.

"How about we go grab some burgers to celebrate?" Zaffre offered.

"Yeah!" the two young boys said happily, agreeing. Zaffre picked them both up, carrying them under her arms as she walked toward the nearest fast food restaurant she knew.

"Come on, it's on me," Zaffre laughed, glad to have told someone about her past. It was difficult to keep her painful memories inside all the time. Cambridge was used to being carried around by his mother. Alizarin on the other hand felt uncomfortable about it, but was glad to have made a new friend today, even if the circumstances were odd. The three of them were going to go eat, and perhaps play a few more turf wars together. Zaffre found them quite enjoyable after all.

"Though if you two start fighting again, I'm gonna make sure you both suffer."


End file.
